CST recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2025

The Community Security Trust (CST) has published its Antisemitic Incidents Report 2025, revealing 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the United Kingdom last year.

This marks the second-highest annual total ever reported to CST, representing a 4% increase from the 3,556 incidents recorded in 2024, and falling just short of the 4,298 incidents logged in 2023. By comparison, CST recorded 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022 and 2,261 in 2021.

In addition to these verified incidents, CST received reports of 3,001 potential incidents that were not included in the statistics after analysis determined they were not antisemitic. Many of these involved suspicious activity or possible hostile reconnaissance at Jewish sites, criminal acts affecting Jewish individuals or property, and anti-Israel activity that did not include antisemitic language, motivation, or targeting. Combined with confirmed antisemitic incidents, CST handled over 6,700 reports in 2025, encompassing victim support, investigations, security guidance, and liaison with police, local authorities, and other organisations.

The annual figures highlight that antisemitic incident levels remain significantly higher than prior to 7 October 2023, the date of the Hamas attack on Israel. CST recorded an average of 308 antisemitic incidents per month in 2025, double the 154 monthly incidents reported in the year before. For the first time, every calendar month in 2025 saw over 200 antisemitic incidents, a threshold previously only exceeded during periods of conflict involving Israel.

October 2025 was the worst month, with 463 incidents reported, the fifth-highest monthly total on record and 63% higher than September. This spike coincided with the fatal terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, which claimed the lives of Melvin Cravitz z’’l and Adrian Daulby z’’l, and left three others seriously injured. This was the first fatal antisemitic terrorist attack on British soil since CST began recording incidents in 1984.

The attack triggered the highest daily totals of anti-Jewish hate in 2025, with 40 cases reported on the day of the attack and 40 the following day. Over half of these incidents were antisemitic reactions to the violence, including celebrations, dismissals, and conspiratorial narratives. A smaller spike occurred in December following the Islamic State-inspired attack at a Chanukah event in Bondi Beach, Australia. CST noted that when Jewish communities are perceived as vulnerable, perpetrators often intensify their actions.

More than half of the 2025 incidents (1,977, or 53%) referenced Israel, Palestine, the Hamas attack, or the subsequent conflict, with explicit antisemitic language, motivation, or targeting. 1,766 incidents involved anti-Zionist rhetoric, frequently using “Zionist” as a euphemism for “Jewish,” and 387 cases equated Israel, Israelis, or Jewish people with Nazis. Additionally, 32 incidents featured the phrase “Death to the IDF” in an antisemitic context, all following its use by the punk-rap group Bob Vylan at Glastonbury Festival.

Violent incidents were also recorded at unprecedented levels. CST logged four cases of extreme violence (including the Heaton Park attack), double the number in 2024, alongside 170 assaults. Physical attacks accounted for 5% of incidents, slightly down from 6% in 2024. Meanwhile, Damage & Desecration of Jewish property rose by 38%, reaching a record 217 cases, targeting homes, vehicles, synagogues, schools, businesses, and Holocaust memorials. Threats numbered 196, mass-produced antisemitic literature 27, and abusive behaviour accounted for 3,086 incidents (83% of all cases).

Online hate reached record levels, with 1,541 incidents (42% of the annual total), a 23% increase from 2024. Of these online incidents, 70% were linked to events in the Middle East, compared to 42% of offline incidents.

Geographically, Greater London and Greater Manchester accounted for 61% of all incidents, with 1,844 and 425 cases respectively. Other police regions with high incident levels included West Yorkshire (131), Hertfordshire (126), Scotland (101), Sussex (68), and both Essex and West Midlands (67).

The CST report underscores the continued escalation of antisemitic hate in the UK, particularly in response to international events and perceived vulnerabilities within the Jewish community.